NEWS & UPDATES
July 13, 2020
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WHAT'S INSIDE?
President's Message
Member's Corner:
Lunch & Learn with Anthony Amaral: Navigating the Mortgage Process, AND SentriKey Update-Important for REALTORS
®️
and Contractors using SentriConnect!
RIAR/MLS News:
URL Ban ReInstated for MLS Listings, C2EX Summer Challenge
NAR
: What's YOUR Wow Factor?
Upcoming Events:
NAR Conference & Expo Goes Virtual!
Committees In Action:
Good Fences Help Grow Great Scholarships at Kiki's Garden
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Dear KWAOR Members,
This month your
KWAOR
leadership is
meeting to plan the 2021 budget. We'll also be preparing for our October annual meeting which will include a President's Fundraiser raffle and live auction. If you have suggestions or questions about our office, community service, education programs or other Association services, please be in touch with a board member.
Our KWAOR Education Committee has a great Lunch & Learn planned for July 15th
--check out the details below. I hope to see YOU online that day as KWAOR business partner Anthony Amaral brings us up to speed on the mortgage process in the Covid era.
To date more than 50,000 REALTORS
®️
nationwide have enrolled in NAR's C2EX endorsement program.
The most recent and 7th of your KWAOR colleagues to
complete
this endorsement is
Wendy Bowen of RI Real Estate Services -- congratulations, Wendy!
Check out the details below and get in on RIAR's great summer challenge with excellent prizes. You can complete the course online, a little at a time, from the comfort of your vehicle as you await clients, or on your deck after completing a virtual meeting or showing!
Speaking of virtual showings, if you still haven't tried them I can tell you from personal experience that they work!
Not only do they help keep owners, clients and realtors stay safer, they save time, and make your properties viewable to a much wider range of potential buyers. Check out the National Association of REALTORS
®️
(NAR) news below, where links to their Wow Factor videos can bring you up to speed.
NAR also provides great news and analysis for our business and the economy.
Check out the latest update from Chief Economist Lawrence Yun in a 3-minute video,
Navigating the Current Economy
,
here
. For results of a recent market survey of US REALTORS
®️
, the majority of whom feel we are in recovery, click
here
.
Finally--please consider attending our National Association of REALTORS
®️
annual Conference and Expo--which will be offered online for the first time ever in November
(see details in Coming Events, below).
The insights that you receive from attending the NAR Annual Conference will be invaluable to your business. This year we all have an amazing opportunity to attend right from our own homes. More than ever, 2020 is the year that you will want to attend and learn from some of the best in the Real Estate Industry.
Wishing you well,
Mary Coutu, President
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Lunch and Learn: Navigating The Mortgage Process
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Are YOU or your BUYER confused about the various mortgage options?
Anthony Amaral of Centreville Bank will present from start to finish the breakdown of the mortgage process with explanations on several misconstrued terms and practices in the lending process. From the initial pre-qualifications to the closing.
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Join us for an informative Lunch and Learn from the comfort of your home, office or vehicle!
Sponsored by the KWAOR Education Committee
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Wednesday, July 15th -12:00 Noon
Presented by
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Join Zoom Meeting by clicking
Here
on July 15th
OR
Dial In: 646 558 8656
Meeting ID: 868 1498 0581
Password: 652466
NOTE: If you choose to dial in, please say hello when you arrive because Zoom does not identify participants who call in.
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NEW SentriConnect App
now available!
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More secure access – and peace of mind – is now available for KWAOR Members!
The SentriConnect
®️
feature of the SentriKey
®
Real Estate mobile app/website enables listing agents to grant secure, temporary, trackable lockbox access to anyone who would need access to a property, such as an out-of-area agent, contractor, or inspector.
SentriConnect
®️
lets listing agents know who, specifically, accessed the property – and when – and displays that person’s contact information and arrival time.
Click here
for more information about the new app and the features it gives SentriConnect
®️
users who have been granted controlled access.
NOTE: Current SentriConnect
®️
users (contractors, listing property owners) who have been granted access by listing agents will need to download the new (free) SentriConnect
®️
app
from the App Store (Apple) and Google Play (Android)
this month
.
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Are YOUR Listings In Compliance?
Rhode Island's State-Wide MLS Re-Implements
Ban on URLs in Listing Public Remarks
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During the early stage of the COVID-19 crisis, State-Wide MLS temporarily allowed tour URLs and Open House information in the Public Remarks section of your listings.
As we enter Phase 3 of ReOpening RI, MLS is re-implementing the prohibition against adding Open House information (i.e., dates, times etc.) and any URLs in the Public Remarks field.
If you would like to include a URL for a virtual tour, you
may
use these fields: Showing Instructions, Virtual Tour Link, Listing Web Address, or Virtual Open House Link.
Please remove URLs and Open House Information from any active listings in Matrix.
Please remember that there is a $50 fine for Remarks violations.
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Did you know? Instanet is now TransactionDesk
Recently Lone Wolf Technologies, provider of Instanet, has changed the name of Instanet to TransactionDesk. The product is not changing--only the name.
More information on what's new is available at the MLS website,
here
.
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Make the most of your summer with the C2EX Summer Challenge!
The
Commitment to Excellence (C2EX) program from the National Association of REALTORS®
empowers REALTORS
®
to evaluate, enhance and showcase their highest levels of professionalism. It’s not a course, class or designation—it’s an Endorsement that helps you improve your knowledge and skills. It also lets clients and associates know that you are a REALTOR
®
who's committed to raising the bar of professionalism.
Get started on your journey today
by logging in to
www.C2EX.realtor
and taking any one of NAR's 11 self-assessments to measure your proficiency in 10 aspects of professionalism (11 for brokers), ranging from customer service to use of technology. The platform generates a customized learning path and recommends experiences and resources to enhance your individual skillset.
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Need more convincing?
Did you know that maintaining a Commitment to Excellence Endorsement now fulfills the Code of Ethics training requirement for NAR membership?!
This challenge is brought to you by RI REALTORS
®
in cooperation with our local
Rhode Island Boards of REALTORS
®
:
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Stay Safe and Sell More with Virtual Showings and Staging
NAR's Realtors Property Resource video series,
The Wow Factor,
recently released a great story on how REALTORS® can use Virtual Showings AND Staging to ramp up business safely and reach more clients online.
Clickv the image above to see
Miami
REALTOR
®️
Ines Hegedus-Garcia share her 10 years of experience with these winning strategies.
Each Wow Factor episode includes tips on using RPR to create market value charts and graphics that will get you noticed.
The image below shows a market report on Kent County residential real estate, generated in less than five minutes. You can filter by price range, number of bedrooms, and much, much more. Check out RPR's reports
here
. Available for desktop or mobile device use, FREE for members, with 24/7 online support.
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Online format dramatically expands member participation opportunities for November conference
The National Association of Realtors® has announced that the 2020 REALTORS® Conference & Expo, previously scheduled from November 13-16 in New Orleans, will be transitioned to a fully virtual format in light of ongoing health and safety concerns stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
NAR completed the first-ever virtual iteration of its Legislative Meetings from May 12-14, where 28,000 participating Realtors® nearly tripled the annual conference’s average attendance.
KWAOR REALTOR of the Year and Board member Pam Hanson Carbone shared her thoughts on the value she's taken from 15 years of attending NAR conferences, excerpted here:
"...a
brilliant opportunity to be immersed in your business and interact with peers and leaders from across the country. I have met colleagues and attended sessions at the NAR annual convention and expo who inspired me to improve my practice, yielding my clients a better transaction and me a stronger income. I wouldn't miss it; it's worth every penny!"
If you've ever wanted to attend a National Conference & Expo but couldn't, this year is your chance to participate affordably with NO travel time or expense.
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Testimonials from KWAOR REALTORS
® who are using lockboxes for their listings.
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COMMUNITY OUTREACH: Planting Seeds and Building Fences for Kiki's Garden
Members of KWAOR's Community Outreach Committee braved the heat for a second work day at Kiki's Garden on June 27th. Thanks to members Paula Allin, Joe Caprara, and Corey Dimaline AND a special shout-out to Chris Bouchard who volunteered when his wife, REALTOR Karen Bouchard, had to be at a showing!
Next Meeting: Monday August 13th at 1:00 PM via Zoom Contact the KWAOR office to join this committee.
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Paula Allin planted seeds in the greenhouse. Everyone helped fence a new plot. A month from now there will be hundreds of sunflowers to harvest and help raise scholarship funds for students of the culinary, visual and performing arts.
Click here to learn more about Kiki's Garden and the Krista Weller Burns Foundation.
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Joe Caprara, Corey Dimaline, Paul Allin and Chris Bouchard with KWAOR REALTOR Heroes
Evelyn and Jeff Weller, who run Kiki's Garden in memory of their daughter Krista Weller Burns
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Before long, Paula's planted seeds will sprout; seedlings are moved to fields like this one, which was fenced at our May 17th work day.
Watch this space for more opportunities to help.
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Please Support Our Sponsors
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